Bridle-bit



{No Model.)

N. E. SPRINGSTBBN.

BRIDLE BIT.

No. 371,106. Patented 0 1;. 4, 1887.

Jubm QAf @H'ommu UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICEO NELSON E. SPRINGSTEEN, OF ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN.

BRlDLE-BlT.

$PBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,106, dated October 4, 1887.

Application filed August 5, 1887. Serial No. 246,197. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NELsoN E. SPRINGSTEEN, of Royal Oak, in the county of Oakland and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bridle-Bits, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in an improvement on the bridle-bit for which Letters Patent No. 237,209, dated August 10, 1886, were granted to me.

Figure 1 is a perspective of the bit; and Fig. 2 is an elevation of part of the two bitbars, partly in section, showing the joint.

1 and 2 represent the bars of the bit, jointed together by pivot 3.

4 4 represent the rings for the reins, which pass through eyes at the end of the bars.

5 5 represent two spoon plates projecting inward and downward from the ends of the bitbars, and 6 represents a strap and buckle which connects the spoon-plates.

Thus far the construction of the bit is like that shown in my former patent; but the arrangement of the joint is different, in that it is single-acting, that it bends only one way, and will only permit the spoonplates 5 5 to approach within agiven distance ofeach other, while in the old bit they were capable of being brought in contact. The ehd of bar 2 which forms thejoint is curved on the outer side, as shown at 8, while on its inner side, as shown at 7, it is made projecting into the slot in the end of bar 1.

It is evident that this construction permits the joint to be swung so as to separate the spoon-plates 5 for the purpose of putting the bit into the horses mouth, and yet prevents their being forced together nearer than a fixed distance.

The object of this construction is to form a bit having many of the advantages of my old bit, but somewhat less severe than the old one.

It is evident that the form of the joint may be varied from the construction shown in the drawings, and its form is immaterial so long as it performs the desired function of permitting the bit to open freely, but check its closing.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A bridle-bit consisting of the bars 1 and 2, each having at its outer end a rigid spoonplate, 5, and connected by a single-acting joint provided with stops which limit the movement of the spoon-plates and prevent them from being brought in contact with each other, substantially as described.

2. A bridle-bit consisting of the bars 1 and 2, each having at its outer end a rigid spoonplate, 5, and connected at their other ends by a pivot, 3, one bar having the curved outer side, 8, and the projecting stop 7, entering a slot in the other bar to form a single-acting joint which limits the approach of the spoonplates toward each other, substantially as de scribed.

, NELSON E. SPRINGSTEEN.

\Vitnesses:

Geo. H. LOTHROP, EMMA HESSELBAOHER. 

